On 3rd November 2016 the concluding conference of the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) INIS joint project SinOptiKom ("Inter-sectoral process optimisation in the transformation of municipal infrastructures in rural settings"), took place in the Donnersberghalle in Rockenhausen. igr was closely involved in this project as a practice partner, primarily with the processing of incoming data, as well as with the implementation and evaluation of the newly-developed software.
Climate change, demographic trends and energy use transformation are causing significant challenges in water supply and waste water management, particularly in rural areas. Working within the SinOptiKom framework since 2013, a total of 10 partners have developed an optimisation model - the so-called demonstrator. This provides the user with a decision-making tool, to make any necessary adjustments to the water infrastructure as future-proofed as possible. The optimisation results can be shaped by the weighting given to various parameters: costs; the flexibility of the solution; user acceptance; energy efficiency, water and nutrient recycling; emissions; and the attainment of the most ‘near-nature’ water cycle possible.
At the concluding event, results from the use of the demonstrator in the test municipalities of Rockenhausen and Enkenbach-Alsenborn were presented, and, amongst other things, the impact of decentralised solutions on the customer charging structure was discussed. Other focus areas were the impacts of a decrease in water consumption through demographic change, or through actions on the central water supply recommended by the software, as well as possible remedial actions.
Over 80 participants from universities, engineering companies, municipalities, the DWA (German association for water economy, waste water and waste), the Rheinland-Pfalz environmental ministry and regulatory authorities exchanged views about the transformation of municipal water infrastructure, and the possibilities for communication between all parties about the complex systems involved.
Stefanie Seiffert